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Ohio Pilot Sentenced For Marijuana Cargo.

By admin | November 10, 2004

Columbia Daily Tribune
November 9, 2004.

A federal judge has sentenced an Ohio pilot who made an emergency landing at the Fulton airport last March with a cargo of 52 pounds of marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey sentenced Russel Johnston of Columbus, Ohio, to a year and a day in federal prison without parole for possession of the drug with the intent to distribute. The judge also ordered Johnston to give up the 1967 Piper Cherokee 180 he was flying at the time.

The sentencing comes about four months after Johnston pleaded guilty to the charges in a federal grand jury indictment. Johnson admitted he was in possession of the marijuana and had plans to sell the drug.

Johnston landed March 7 in Fulton after an air-traffic controller noticed he had been flying in an “unusual manner” over Central Missouri. Airport officials later said that Johnston appeared to be “incoherent” when he landed and that his fuel tank was almost empty.

Johnston fled when airport officials called police. A day later, police found him hiding behind a culvert near downtown Fulton.

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